Many of the Cr{1-1/4 to 2-1/4}-Mo{1/2 to 1} pressure vessels in the refining and petrochemical industries such as process reactors, distillation columns, separators, pressurized storage vessels, and heat exchangers are typically vertical columns, most often supported by a circular skirt. Typically, design considerations for these vessels and support skirts are for operating under continuous “steady-state” conditions, where temporary stresses due to short-term “transient” events such as start-up and shutdown are often ignored. Consequences of dynamic and cyclic loading play a very significant role in their life and performance. For Coke drums, survey data from API shows that the skirt-to-drum attachment weld and adjoining area appears to be the most problematic, frequently experiencing low-cycle fatigue cracking due to concentrated stresses. A methodology for repairing the skirt attachment weld of Cr-Mo pressure vessels is provided. When designing a repair approach, consideration should include material and aged condition, extent and location of defects, welding process and consumables, and codes, standards, and regulatory guidelines. When repair by weld metal buildup to rebuild a skirt-attachment weld configuration is considered, weld procedure qualification and adequate mock-ups should be performed in order to ensure a sound repair. Further, when invoking a code compliant repair without post-weld heat treatment by controlled deposition welding or temper bead techniques, proper training of welder operators should be conducted to ensure the techniques are implemented properly. A case study is provided for a Coke drum, where the original design and fabrication of the skirt attachment included an initial SAW weld metal buildup on the 2.25Cr (P5A) cone followed by an SMAW/GTAW attachment weld to the 1.25Cr skirt (P4). During a plant shutdown, a surface breaking crack was detected in the skirt to shell attachment weld by Dye Liquid Penetrant Testing (D-LPT) and confirmed with Magnetic Particle Testing (MPT). Subsequent examination by Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) discovered a large number of volumetric indications, oriented towards the knuckle section internally. The repair approach consisted of 1) Completely remove the existing skirt and the attachment weld (knuckle) in segments, 2) Inspect the cone for remaining flaws, 3) Excavate and repair flaws in cone using temper bead technique, 4) Rebuild knuckle area for skirt to cone attachment with an increased radius using temper bead welding techniques, 5) Install new skirt sections using controlled deposition welding technique. Temper Bead and Controlled Deposition repair welding techniques were utilized to avoid conventional post-weld heat treatment requirements, significantly improving the turn-around time in the field.

A major challenge for high-volume resistance spot welding of aluminum sheet is durability of the electrodes themselves. In production today, electrodes have total anticipated lives (including dressing) on the order of 1000 welds. This is largely related to the use of medium-frequency direct current (MFDC) power. The single-polarity orientation of MFDC welding results in excessive heating of one electrode (anode) and accelerated wear rates. Recently, technology employing capacitor discharge (CD) welding in conjunction with polarity switching has been developed. This work is the first effort in examining the response of resistance spot welding on aluminum sheet using this power source. Part 1 of this research (Ref. 1) described basic process robustness in spot welding with CD power systems. Part 2 addresses electrode life response. Duplicate electrode life tests were completed for 2000 welds without failure. These results were related to the polarity switching and short time that produced balanced and minimized wear. Additional testing was done without the use of electrode-cooling water. A limited test (500 welds) largely paralleled the ones done with cooling, suggesting that long-term spot welding with polarity-switching CD power and no water was possible.

A key aspect of integrating automotive sheet into automotive production are the costs associated with joining. While the majority of sheet steel assembly is done with resistance spot welding, that has not readily translated to aluminum. Resistance spot welding of aluminum sheet is challenged by high current demand as well as reduced electrode life. In the latter case, direct current (DC) power supplied by state-of-the-art systems has exacerbated the problem. Recently, technology employing capacitor discharge (CD) welding in conjunction with polarity switching has been developed. This work is a first effort in examining the response of resistance spot welding on aluminum sheet to polarity-switching CD power. In this paper, the current range response between medium-frequency DC (MFDC) and polarity-switching CD was investigated. It was found that polarity-switching CD welding offered improved current ranges over MFDC. In addition, replicate mechanical testing cross-tension results were similar, but tensile shear strengths improved nominally 20–25%. Finally, some limited tests were done to assess the suitability of CD resistance spot welding in the presence of an adhesive. Current range tests with and without a prepulse were done, and both showed excellent weldability.